Their 19-17 win kept them three points clear of Exeter Chiefs and pushed the bears down to seventh. There were four Welsh caps in the Bears’ matchday squad – Courtney Keight, Elinor Snowsill and Kiera Bevan started – and a further seven in the Gloucester-Hartpury ranks.Â
Jones started at centre and Sisilia Tuipulotu, Kelsey Jones and Bethan Lewis were in the visiting pack. Cara Hope, Cerys Hale and Siwan Lillicrap were on the bench.Â
A hard-fought encounter saw both sides run in three tries each, with Emma Sing’s two successful conversions to Keira Bevan’s one, proving to be the difference between the two Westcountry rivals. Â
Sing was first on the scoresheet, when the visitors worked the ball wide in the Bears 22 and the full back cut back inside to get the league leaders up and running. Rachel Lund followed that up with another score out wide in the opposite corner just four minutes later. Â
Simi Pam hit back with a blistering line break to score on her 50th Bears appearance, but the final word of the half went to the league’s leading try scorer, Ellie Rugman, who glided over just before the break to give the visitors a 12-point lead. Â
The Red Roses duo Amber Reed and Lark Davies crossed for the Bears early in the second half to cut the gap to two points and set up a thrilling ending. A stalemate ensued for the remainder of the half, with neither side able to add to the scoreboard. Â
Bristol will take solace from picking up a valuable losing bonus point and becoming one of just two teams to stop the Cherry &Â Whites picking up a try bonus point.Â
